Jordan steps up security after warnings from Syria

Originally published April 4, 2013 at 8:46 pm
Updated April 5, 2013 at 6:28 am

This image from video, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a man holding a scarf in the colors of the Syrian revolutionary flag after rebels seized a military base in Daraa.

AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan tightened security along its border with Syria, doubling the number of soldiers, as President Bashar Assad’s government warned Thursday the kingdom is “playing with fire” by allowing the U.S. and other countries to train and arm Syrian rebels on its territory.

The warning, coinciding with significant rebel advances near the border, plays into Jordanian fears that its larger neighbor might try to retaliate for its support of the opposition fighters.

The stepped-up security also reflects the kingdom’s fears that the chaos from Syria’s two-year civil war could lead to a failed state on its doorstep, a state in which Islamic militants have a free hand.

The Syrian warnings followed statements from U.S. and other Western and Arab officials that Jordan has been facilitating arms shipments and hosting training camps for rebels since October.

A front-page editorial in the government daily al-Thawra accused the Jordanian kingdom of adopting a policy of “ambiguity” by training the rebels while publicly insisting on a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

Jordan is “playing with fire,” state radio said.

“Jordan’s attempt to put out the flame from the leaked information will not help as it continues with its mysterious policy, which brings it closer to the volcanic crater,” al-Thawra said.

Over the years, Syria has accused Jordan of being America’s “puppet” because of its strong alliance with the United States and a “spy” for Israel, with which the kingdom maintains cordial ties under a peace treaty signed in 1994.

A Jordanian security official said the kingdom had tightened security along its 230-mile border with Syria, including doubling the number of soldiers in the past two days, though he declined to disclose the size of the force.

He said Jordan was also hoping to receive one or two Patriot missile batteries, which the U.S. might temporarily pull out of the Persian Gulf to station on Jordan’s northern border. He spoke on condition of anonymity.

Jordan’s chief of staff, Gen. Mishaal Zaben, said Jordan was installing more cameras, radar and sophisticated early-detection equipment to help prevent smuggling and infiltration across the border and assist Syrian refugees as they cross into Jordan.

Jordanian Information Minister Sameeh Maaytah said the political tension with Syria would not evolve into all-out war.

“Syria must be aware that Jordan has no desire to meddle in its internal affairs whether by training rebel forces, or facilitating arms shipments to them,” he added. “But Jordan must protect its interests, land, border and people.”

The rebels being trained in Jordan are mainly secular Sunni Muslim tribesmen from central and southern Syria who once served in the army and police. The force is expected to fill a security vacuum by protecting the border with Jordan, assisting displaced Syrians and setting up a safe haven for refugees.

They are also envisioned as a counterbalance to the Islamic militant groups that have proved among the most effective of the myriad rebel factions fighting Assad’s forces.

Chief among these is Jabhat al-Nusra or the Nusra Front, which the U.S. designates as a terrorist group and says is associated with al-Qaida.

“Jordan can’t sit idle and watch al-Qaida and other militants seizing control of its common border with Syria,” Maaytah said.

Jordan has also feared that the Assad government could use chemical weapons against it, or that agents linked to the government or its allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah could attack the kingdom.

Israel and the United States also are concerned about militants potentially operating in the area near the Israeli frontier with Syria in the Golan Heights should Assad’s government collapse.

The Syrian revolt started with peaceful protests but has morphed into a civil war with increasingly sectarian overtones. Sunni Muslims dominate rebel ranks, while the Assad government is composed mostly of Alawites, an offshoot Shiite group to which the president and his family belong. More than 70,000 people have died in the conflict, according to the United Nations.